Nasa says flash reports consistent with meteor shower

Social media sites are buzzing with reports of a flash of light that streaked across the sky along the US East Coast.

Bill Cooke of Nasa’s Meteoroid Environmental Office said Friday that the flash appeared to be “a single meteor event.” He says it “looks to be a fireball that moved roughly toward the southeast, going on visual reports.”

He says the meteor was widely seen, with more than 350 reports on the website of the American Meteor Society alone.

Derrick Pitts, chief astronomer at Philadelphia’s Franklin Institute, agrees that the sightings had all the hallmarks of a “fireball.”

Pitts said this one got more attention because it happened on a Friday evening — and because Twitter has provided a way for people to share information on sightings.